Endocrine Abstracts

Fixed annual interval screening for referable diabetic retinopathy (RDR) irrespective of the calculable risk of it developing is wasteful and unsustainable in the era of Precision medicine. Prediction models exist that can identify the at-risk and low-risk subgroups and assign screening intervals based on that risk. Using data on 2770 participants followed for a mean of 3.5 years of annual retinopathy grading results combined with twice yearly...

Thauvin-Robinet-Faivre (TRF) syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive condition characterised by excessive fibroblast proliferation and only 4 cases from two families have been reported in the literature to date. It is typified by a gene mutation of the FGF-1 intracellular binding protein (FIBP) and its full phenotype is still being characterised. We present a case history of a patient who had TRF associated with androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS). A 22 years old male was ref...

Background: AVP deficiency (AVP-D) or cranial diabetes insipidus (CDI) is a rare condition treated with Desmopressin. A patient safety alert was issued in 2016, following mortalities, with recommendations to implement: Desmopressin as a critical drug, raise awareness among healthcare professionals (HCPs) and has driven the name change.Aim: To assess healthcare professionals’ knowledge on AVP-D and Desmopressin. To evaluate the effectiveness of a bes...

Background: Arginine vasopressin disorder (previously diabetes insipidus (DI)) can be distinguished clinically into a relative deficiency of, or resistance to anti-diuretic hormone. Lithium is the mainstay of therapy for patients with bipolar affective disorder (BPAD), 40% of whom will go on to develop arginine vasopressin resistance (previously nephrogenic DI). We present a challenging case of an elderly gentleman receiving long-term lithium therapy who developed a hyperosmol...

Background and Aims: The use of thyroid ultrasound is gaining in popularity at undergraduate level, this can help augment students understanding of both anatomy and endocrinology. We aimed to embed a weekly one hour thyroid ultrasound practical teaching session as part of the QUB (Queen’s University Belfast) 3 rd year medical student’s endocrine and diabetes rotation. Students completed a questionnaire on the effectiveness of the teaching.<p class="abs...

Background: Insulin is a high-risk medicine that was involved in just under 20% of all medication safety events causing harm following a local audit that reviewed data over a 2.5 year period. Insulin was one of the only licensed medicine remaining that was managed via a paper process in inpatient areas at St James’s Hospital as it was excluded from the initial implementation of electronic medicines management processes due to the significant amount of additional design fe...

Research shows that young people with diabetes often have poor attendance rates in clinical settings and increased presentations of DKA at hospitals. Clinical settings may not adequately support young people in managing all aspects of their diabetes. Engaging young co-researchers in research design, implementation, and dissemination provides invaluable insights into the unique challenges of managing diabetes in adolescence and young adulthood. The D1-Now study aims to be one o...

Background: Hyponatremia is the most encountered electrolyte abnormality and is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. An accurate diagnosis requires careful clinical and biochemical assessment. Due to patient safety incidents a retrospective 5-year audit was undertaken to study current management of acute profound hyponatremia (Na <125 mmol/l) at our institution compared to European consensus guidelines.Methods: All patients with acute ...

Introduction: MAIT cells are a unique subset of T-cells, that have been conserved throughout 150 million years of mammalian evolution. They can contribute to rapid pathogen control, tissue repair and anti-cancer immunity, but can also cause inflammation and tissue damage in diseased settings. Previously, we have reported dysregulated peripheral blood MAIT cells in children and adults with obesity, highlighting altered cellular metabolism as the causative mechanism. However, th...